Fair Deal by Elizabeth L. Brooks
Dariel was playing the violin again. The notes shivered through the thin air and lodged in Arved’s spine until he wanted to scream. He gritted his teeth until the song was done, and then sighed in relief. Now, maybe—
Dariel started a new song. Something with a lot of high-pitched, wobbly notes that made Arved’s ears want to scrunch up and pull inward, like testicles in a cold shower. He couldn’t take it any longer, he just couldn’t. He stamped into the break room. “By all that’s holy, will you please just stop?”
The noise ceased as Dariel stared at him, bow still poised over the strings, eyes comically wide and dismayed. Relief and guilt washed over Arved in equal measure. “I’m just…It’s just so…It sets my teeth on edge.”
“But…But Mik has a guitar, and
